Something Killing Hermits?

[-Nemo-]

Yesterday I had 5 Small Zebra hermits, now I have 2.
Last night I saw my peppermint shrimp out trying to pull one of them out of the shell, the hermit was already dead at that point, but I don't know whether he killed him first, or found him dead. Then this morning I find two other empty shells. And no, they did not switch shells, I know what shells I have in the tank, and they are all accounted for. I threw some pellets in to try and distract the shrimp last night to see if the hermit was alive, he went over tasted them a bit, i saw the hermit was dead, and he went right back to the hermit ignoring the pellets.
Just wondering if there's any possibility it was the shrimp, I don't see what else it could have been, and 3 hermits dieing the same night, is just too much of a coincidence for me. Everything else in my tank is listed in my sig.

BTW: I bought the zebra hermits about a week ago. I also have blue legged hermits, never seen them bother the zebras. I have 5 blues, They are all at least 2x the size of the zebras. The only small one i had, mysteriously disappeared a couple weeks ago...

Thanks.

 

[Donya]

Mixed hermit species of mixed sizes would make me suspect other herimits before shrimp. Hermit species mixing is a bad idea in general as is mixing sizes. Competition over food will drive larger hermits to pick off smaller ones pretty quickly. Was the most recent dead hermit fully intact or did it look like it had been attacked prior to the shrimp trying to munch on it?

 

[-Nemo-]

It was fully intact, still in the shell. I thought it was still alive, which was why I threw pellets at the shrimp.

 

[-Nemo-]

Just caught the shrimp red-handed. One hermit left...
What's causing him to do this? He has plenty of food.

Guess that explains the small blue legged's death a coupel weeks ago. Boy am i mad...
Could he also possibly have killed the other peppermint shrimp i bought about a month ago? He was about half the size.

 

[Donya]

Just caught the shrimp red-handed.

Red-handed as in starting out with a live hermit and killing it somehow? Also, are you sure it's a peppermint shrimp?

Could he also possibly have killed the other peppermint shrimp i bought about a month ago? He was about half the size.

Could be. You run that risk with a lot of crustaceans if you don't add individuals that are close to the same size.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agree with Donya's advice. Sure this is a peppermint shrimp and not the imposter camel shrimp?

 

[Fatty]

Agree with Donya's advice. Sure this is a peppermint shrimp and not the imposter camel shrimp?

And watchout for those blue legs!, they can be evil little buggers..

 

[Lynden]

This all sounds a little fishy here... Peppermint shrimp, or even camels for that matter, aren't what I would call capable of killing zebra hermits. These things are well defended (the reason I keep them and not a smaller species with known crustacean eaters) and peppermints or camels just don't seem strong enough to take them down. I would look to other possibilities as to why your hermits are kicking the bucket.

 

[-Nemo-]

I've had this shrimp for a good 9 months and he has just started this now. I originally bought a pair, and the two mated quite often, but the female ended up dieing a couple months ago. Yes i'm positive its a peppermint.
And yes, as in red-handed I mean I saw him kill a live hermit.
The hermit had fallen and was flipped on its back, before it could flip back over the shrimp came and stuck his <scientific term>Claw/arm thingys</scientific term> into the shell, pulling them in and out repeatedly until he finally got a hold of the hermit, and pulled him from the shell. HE then proceeded to eat the meat from him, and carrying around the body.
It was him...

I thought I may have had a pic of him... but it seems that i don't, I'll try and get one tonight when he comes out.

EDIT: He must have finished off the last one last night as well, because I now have 5 empty zebra hermit shells, 4 of which are sitting in front of his "cave" where he hides out.

 

[Lynden]

Could it be a zombie?

Admittedly what yours is doing is something I have not seen nor heard/read of... I will echo the others and ask, are you sure it is a peppermint shrimp? Camels do look a lot like them... and aren't cleaners like peppermints.

 

[-Nemo-]

I'm pretty darn sure it is a peppermint. He doesn't have those prominent white stripes like a camel, but instead is more transparent. But, like I said I will take a picture tonight when he comes out.

 

[woodyofcastle]

I'm pretty darn sure it is a peppermint. He doesn't have those prominent white stripes like a camel, but instead is more transparent. But, like I said I will take a picture tonight when he comes out.

Any news on the shrimp? and any pics yet?

 

[-Nemo-]

Pics of him proved to be hard, because he rarely comes out in the daytime, and at night (with no light) its hard to get a pic of him out.

Best I could do: http/img246.imageshack.us/img246/3328/hpim0199ki3.jpg

Everything is back to how it was pre-zebra hermits. The 5 blue hermits are fine, the shrimp is fine (he actually molted last night). I guess I just don't have luck with anything named "zebra"